Adrenalin Sparking Experience At The Launch

C

CatyMae n Steve

New member
Steve and I spent Friday evening, Saturday and this morning at Oregon City, seeking out some smelly ol' shad for bait purposes. We were pulling the boat about 9 this morning to come home (Steve, poor guy, has to go to work tomorrow) -- Steve dropped me off, I went and got the truck and backed 'er down, put it in park and set the emergency brake. I was attaching the strap to the boat when I noted the rig and trailer were slowly moving backward down the ramp!

I flew into the truck and jammed on the brakes as the tailgate was going in the water. The tranny had popped into reverse and the emergency brake was letting it go backwards! I shook for an hour after that happened. I'm shopping for some rubber chocks that I'll be using at the ramp in the future -- I have heard of that happening, but it scared the cwap out of me. One minor ding to the side of the boat's gelcoat, cuz it wasn't close to being on the trailer properly -- and made a tear in the strap when it yanked -- but no sunk truck!!!!

Be safe!

Caty
 
Caty,
Glad that you were able to save your rig in time! Another procedure that I like to follow in addition to a "wheel chock" is to be certain that the driver side window of the truck is down. If I inadvertantly lock the doors of the truck with the key inside, engine running, I can immediately gain access back into the truck.
 
Glad no one was hurt. After I saw this photo, the few times I used the boat ramp I always put a big rock under my back tire.
boat_launch_bob_bayer.jpg


Tom
 
Caty - good for you and your youthful quickness! A Dodge will do that too, but the damn horn will be honking when it does.

Can you imagine the chastizing you would have taken on ifish??

Dave - that is one of my phobias with them new fangled electronical door lockers. I always leave the window down too.
 
Midwatch":n2zencsl said:
Better yet...leave the driver's door open, emergency brake on with engine running.
Click to expand...

Happened to me about 30 years ago here in San Diego and lucky I had the truck set up like our Coastie said and had more youthful reflexes back then.

Fortunately I only ended up with a few new buttonholes in my skivvies. Brrrr, thanks for the reminder.

Don
 
Stop by your local transmission repair shop and ask to see the parking pawl that holds a vehicle in park. It's just a small hook that catches on a notch. A vehicle that is sitting on a steep ramp doesn't need any "assistance" from the engine, to help it roll backwards should the transmission slip into gear. Now consider your standing behind the vehicle? The safest thing to do is shut off the engine. I don't know of a good reason to leave it running. Parking brakes can fail, also.

If you have a very slippery ramp, or the vehicle won't crank if you shut it off then have another person remain in the vehicle while you hook up the boat.

As a simple test. The next time you back down a ramp. Set the parking brake. Put the transmission in neutral and release the brake. The vehicle should hold. Now slip the trans in reverse and let up on the pedal brake. Unless your parking brakes are in good condition and adjusted tight, most vehicles will back on in the water with engine running.

This is more apt to happen on the retrieve. As the tow vehicles engine is cold. The high idle is activated making the engine run faster, putting out more power. If the trans pops into gear away she goes!
 
Caty, glad to hear you are OK. Don't take no heat from anyone. Like others have noted....if you do this long enough, it will happen. C-Weed brings up a good point about just how small some parts are on our vehicles that we blindly trust each day. Chocks are a pain to use, but they work well. I have a pair of 4x4 pressure treated post "chocks" cut from when I was putting in a deck. I just cut them about 1 foot long and they work fine. They were also real good to put the magma grill on when grilling on the dock or other flat surface and allowed the little propane bottle gizmo to run between the two boards. They also work well to roll your ankle on stepping into the boat over the gunnels at the ramp...if they are sitting close to the gunnels.....so be careful where you lay them.
 
So, am I understanding that if I shut off the engine, it won't pop out and roll backward? I automatically open both windows and pop the door locks to the open position -- and most of the time leave the driver door open "just in case." But shutting the engine off would be one more safety step if I knew that would be safer than letting it idle.

Thanks for the innovative chock idea Patrick -- I think I'll still search for a rubber one that won't slip around on a wet launch ... with good rubber grip to it :thup

Mike, thanks for noting that I 'flew' to stop the truck (at least as fast as a 59-year-old gal can). You know, that would be the point at which you'd be HAPPY that Dodge was honkin at ya! Steve and I both said "we're getting too old for that crap!" :lol:

We did see another C-dory (19 or 22' angler, black accent -- no name on it and didn't recognize the folks) heading toward the marina yesterday morning while we were fishing -- and we got shad -- now it's time for the ocean to calm down so we can go get some halibut!
 
And don't remove the safety chain until the boat is in the water. We could have been severally injured two years ago when a cable snapped and we launched a 30' boat on the ramp. Fortunately, no one was behind the boat.

We had removed the chain at a 'flat spot' on the ramp, and then
continued to back down into the water when the cable went.

Interesting process, getting the boat back up on to the trailer...

Mike
 
This was at the retrieval but still sparked some serious adrenaline. While motoring in to Cornet Bay to land there were herring fishermen all over the launch ramp docks, casting across the space between docks, etc. I slowed way down and prepared to land at the dock but no movement from them. I finally honked my horn because a 10-12 year old girl was dangling over the side of the dock paying no attention to the boat about to squash her. That got her to stand up and them to stop casting across in front of me. I pulled up but at a poor angle and went into reverse briefly to ease the crunch. Hopped off the boat and prepared to tie up only to find the boat was still in idle reverse. I'd been paying so much attention to the girl and three guys clustered around my landing point I neglected to go back into neutral. I had both lines but C-Cakes was now motoring backwards around the end of the dock. Well, that was quite a dance getting through the people traffic, tossing the bow line on the bow,and executing a beautiful ballet like leap back on board, stern line in hand, before the boat either went for a sail by herself or backed onto the shore with props spinning away.

I didn't even say anything in Anglo-Saxon.
 
If I have to get out of the truck on the ramp, I leave the engine running, transmission in low, with the parking brake on. Launch ramps are the reason I have an automatic transmission.

Chocks are good, but can slip on a slimy old ramp.

Best choice is to have a second person doing all the outside stuff and keep the driver in the truck.
 
Dotty and I spent 13 years working together on an ambulance, back in the days when you actually had to lift the stretcher into it. Once we were about to lift a patient, when the empty ambulance slipped out of park into reverse and began coming back at us. I jumped in the open back door and slammed it back into park. I have never again exited a a driver's seat with the motor running.
 
Drum brakes (most parking brakes) are self energising. This means they load up and get more effective going foreward but don't offer much in reverse.
 
When the parking brake is ON, and the transmission is in PARK, the rear wheels are locked, and they are the only ones holding the truck AND trailer. With the boat in the water, Judy is in the cab, with her foot on the brakes. This sets all 4 brakes on the truck plus the electric brakes on the boat trailer. In So Cal, we have sandy launch ramps, and the C-25/trailer combination is heavy. When backing down a ramp (and our driveway) I've noticed the front wheels slide if I brake too hard, so I'm not going to trust the rear wheels only.

I try to stay on good relations with Judy, just so she pays attention when I'm in back of the truck.

The new transmissions are electrically shifted, so I'm not sure how the parking lock is set. Also, with the electric brakes, one has to lower the controller gain when it's not carrying a boat, or the wheels lock.

Boris
 
A wooden chock with 36 grit sandpaper glued to the bottom holds well on slippery surfaces. Even when accompanied I am single handing as my company is always inexperienced. The launch and retreive regimine includes opening the driver's window, setting the parking brake, shifting into 1st (manual), shutting down the engine, and chocking the driver side rear wheel. The chock has never slipped but it often becomes so tight under the wheel that the truck has to be moved forward to release it.
Mike 'Levity'
 
Back
Top